Wedding Blog - Big Day minus 184

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gsabc · #1 Post by **gsabc** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:31 pm

The Food Tasting

After all the buildup, I must elaborate. The food was remarkable. Remarkably eh. Considering what we will be paying, much of it was flavorless, dry or underdone (sometimes in the same item), and even the presentation was nothing special. The Harvest Chicken (see yesterday's entry for its description) was dry on the outside, and the stuffing was slightly sweet (from the apple cider and cranberry) bread stuffing with essentially no other spices for flavor. IMO StoveTop is better. At least it has some flavor. Half of my Atlantic Salmon Filet en Papillote (savory pastry dough wrapped fue de brick stuffed with spinach and beurre blanc) was dry, with the other half okay. The manicotti in marinara sauce was apparently devoid of any sort of Italian flavoring. The woman seated next to us, there with her own daughter, said she was Italian and agreed that it was awful.

The au gratin potatoes were okay, and an extra two dollars per person. The only two hors d'oeuvres brought around were the diced tomato and mozzarella on a garlic baguette (a definite yes; essentially a cold bruschetta) and the breaded and fried beef and onion kabob with a fruit molasses dip (a definite no; tasted like an overly chewy onion ring). The Italian wedding soup wasn't any better than what you get from Progresso.

The caesar salad was good, but is $4/pp extra if you go the stations route instead of a plated entrée. The rolls were fresh and good, but nothing special. The coffee was bitter (GW) and weak (my thought). The carving stations were best, as the sirloin was pretty good. Unfortunately, the pork and ham options are useless, as we have several family members who keep kosher, leaving us with the sirloin or roasted turkey breast. The latter was not available for tasting.

The venue had many of the other available entrées and hors d'oeuvres on display to show the typical presentation. The salads don't have ANY tomatoes, except for the tomato and mozzarella salad, of course. So the $2/pp extra for the beefsteaks is just to get a tomato in there. The miniature cheeseburgers, by Ghu, actually looked like miniature cheeseburgers on a bulkie roll. There is also a pickle chip which covers the entire burger, to give you an idea of the size.

We were not impressed. I'm not sure how sincere GW was when she said she would tell the coordinator that the food wasn't particularly good for the price being charged. We were disappointed in the taste, or lack thereof, and I was disappointed that more of the options weren't available for tasting. There were several I would have liked to try. Just seeing them on display doesn't tell me anything. Right now, it's looking like the stations, which of course is the most expensive option.

peacock2121 · #2 Post by **peacock2121** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:29 am

My wedding had the best food I ever tasted at a wedding - by far.

My opinion was supported by our guests as well.

We hired a chef and he cooked it in our garage - no kidding.

We got married at our house.

See if you can hire someone different than who is provided by the venue.

We paid $70 per person for the food in 1996. It was well worth it.

We bought the booze and the cake was a gift from my friend. The chef hired the wiat staff and that was extra.

See what other options you have.

Also - no one expects good food at a wedding celebration. It ain't about the food.

christie1111 · #3 Post by **christie1111** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 3:06 pm

I can not imagine paying that much for food you are not excited about.

I know you are working really hard on finding the right place for your budget. It is a shame there is not other options.

I feel for you and am sorry this isn't easier for you.

Catfish · #4 Post by **Catfish** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 5:21 pm

This is a bummer. I haven't read all the wedding posts and so missed the ones about choosing the place. Are your hearts set on that locale? It sounds as if ordering lots of good pizza would be preferable to sitting through a dinner of high-priced crappy food.

I disagree that all wedding food is bad. We had excellent food at our wedding. We skipped the sit-down dinner, though, and had about seven appetizer stations (in addition to the bar, of course): raw bar, pigs in blankets and other hot hors d-oeurves (sp?), cheese, fruit, little beef tenderloin sandwiches, and many others I can't remember. We spent our big bucks on a really good band and told the catering staff that as God is our witness, we didn't want anyone sitting down. (Well, except for that percentage who always sit down no matter what, so they set up five four-person cabaret tables.)

But the above won't help you because you said the appetizers sucked as well. My heart goes out to you. This should be a fun time for all of you.

Catfish · #5 Post by **Catfish** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 5:26 pm

Catfish wrote:I disagree that all wedding food is bad.

Oops. I misinterpreted in my mind what Pea wrote. But in regard to what she did write, when I go to a wedding, I do hope for good food.

gsabc · #6 Post by **gsabc** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:38 pm

The food will be adequate, at best, if the tasting was truly representative. We are stuck with it, as the food and their chef come with the venue. It's just that we were figuring on better than adequate, considering the importance of the day and the price of the food.

Catfish · #7 Post by **Catfish** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:21 am

gsabc wrote:The food will be adequate, at best, if the tasting was truly representative. We are stuck with it, as the food and their chef come with the venue. It's just that we were figuring on better than adequate, considering the importance of the day and the price of the food.

Make sure to tell the catering staff about your disappointment. If this place has a good reputation as a nice place for a wedding, they may have become complacent. There is still time for them to fix things.